On the Trail of the Hollywood Indian

Katariina Pasuri

How has the Indian myth created by Hollywood affected our understanding or misunderstanding of Indigenous peoples?

In Reel Injun documentary Cree- filmmaker Neil Diamondtakes the audience on a journey across America to some of cinema’s most iconic landscapes, including Monument Valley, the setting for Hollywood’s greatest Westerns, and the Black Hills of South Dakota, home to Crazy Horse and countless movie legends.

It traces the evolution of cinema’s depiction of Native people from the silent film era to today, with clips from hundreds of classics and recent Hollywood movies, and candid interviews with celebrated Native and non-Native film celebrities, activists, film critics, and historians. Diamond meets for example with Clint Eastwood; the film legend discusses the evolution of the image of Indians in Westerns and what cowboy-and-Indian myths mean to America. Diamond also travels North to the remote Nunavut town of Igloolik to interview Zacharias Kunuk, director of the Caméra d’or-winning The Fast Runner. Reel Injun is a journey across history and landscapes.